The General Chat Thread

Michellenman

Faith wrote: »

I'm making a birthday dinner for my dad on Tuesday. He's in his late 60's and is a fan of pretty plain food. He adores fish, but my mum hates fish generally so I might as well leave that out. I was thinking of doing a roast chicken with all the trimmings, but is that too boring for a birthday meal?

Malari wrote: »

Gravity-defying croissants MM! Look gorgeous.

A roast is one of my favourite dinners Faith, mainly because I never do them myself. I think if he likes plain food it's a great idea, with all the fab sides.

Are they upside down again?! Damn iPad always does that!!
I'll fix it now

Michellenman

Faith wrote: »

Not too exotic, but he likes his beef well done and I'm not sure I could cook it that way in all good conscience .

Well done, MM! Was it a lot of work?

Not a lot of work, more like a lot of waiting. You make the yeasted dough, then have to wait an hour to chill it. Then you roll it out, and put the butter layer on. Then chill for an hour. Do you first turn, chill an hour. 2nd and 3rd turns waiting an hour in between and then one final turn before resting overnight. Roll out and shape and then prove for an hour and a half. All to cook them for only 15 minutes haha! Still, it was something that I always thought to be incredibly difficult and not really feasible to make at home but they turned out well and now I can say that I've at least made them once won't be doing it every weekend but I cooked 10 and there's 20 more in the freezer ready for cooking so I should get a few more weekends out of them yet

Mrs Fox

Faith wrote: »

Not too exotic, but he likes his beef well done and I'm not sure I could cook it that way in all good conscience .

Bit like cooking for my MIL -- she wants everything well done, so I'd usually slice the end of the perfectly medium rare cooked meat and throw it at her face in a hot pan til it magically turns into grade 'A' leather.

Faith

Michellenman wrote: »

Not a lot of work, more like a lot of waiting. You make the yeasted dough, then have to wait an hour to chill it. Then you roll it out, and put the butter layer on. Then chill for an hour. Do you first turn, chill an hour. 2nd and 3rd turns waiting an hour in between and then one final turn before resting overnight. Roll out and shape and then prove for an hour and a half. All to cook them for only 15 minutes haha! Still, it was something that I always thought to be incredibly difficult and not really feasible to make at home but they turned out well and now I can say that I've at least made them once won't be doing it every weekend but I cooked 10 and there's 20 more in the freezer ready for cooking so I should get a few more weekends out of them yet

I've been thinking about trying them. I might do it now that you've paved the way!

Mrs Fox wrote: »

Bit like cooking for my MIL -- she wants everything well done, so I'd usually slice the end of the perfectly medium rare cooked meat and throw it at her face in a hot pan til it magically turns into grade 'A' leather.

Yep, could definitely do that .

Starters and desserts are the next thing. The dessert should probably double up as a birthday cake, so I might just do a Victoria sponge or something for that.

Michellenman

Faith wrote: »

I've been thinking about trying them. I might do it now that you've paved the way!

It's definitely worth giving a go. I got home from work yesterday at 5.30 and started immediately, got up at 10am this morning to get going on them and they were cooked by 1pm. So you do need to give yourself the time to do it in plenty of time at that

Merkin

Faith wrote: »

I'm making a birthday dinner for my dad on Tuesday. He's in his late 60's and is a fan of pretty plain food. He adores fish, but my mum hates fish generally so I might as well leave that out. I was thinking of doing a roast chicken with all the trimmings, but is that too boring for a birthday meal?

How about duck Faith? Nice for a change and feels a bit celebratory or maybe a rolled and stuffed loin of pork with all the trimmings with a wine gravy?

Faith

Merkin wrote: »

How about duck Faith? Nice for a change and feels a bit celebratory or maybe a rolled and stuffed loin of pork with all the trimmings with a wine gravy?

Don't mention the war

We had duck last Christmas and my dad threw a massive strop!

Pork's a good idea, but we've been eating pulled pork this week so I'm all porked out for now :pac:

I was thinking venison stew too, but I'm not sure I could be bothered to source venison .

Dizzyblonde

Faith wrote: »

I'm making a birthday dinner for my dad on Tuesday. He's in his late 60's and is a fan of pretty plain food. He adores fish, but my mum hates fish generally so I might as well leave that out. I was thinking of doing a roast chicken with all the trimmings, but is that too boring for a birthday meal?

If your dad loves roast chicken with all the trimmings then that's what I'd cook for him. I't probably the one thing that everyone likes too.

the beer revolu

Faith wrote: »

I'm making a birthday dinner for my dad on Tuesday.

Everyone loves roast chicken - I'd never turn my nose up at it!

B0jangles

the beer revolu wrote: »

Everyone loves roast chicken - I'd never turn my nose up at it!

But who knows if you'd turn up your nose at the pope's nose?

:pac:

Faith

Roast chicken it is so . Thanks for the feedback everyone!

the beer revolu

Faith wrote: »

I was thinking venison stew too, but I'm not sure I could be bothered to source venison .

O' Sullivan's Poultry in The English market has plenty of venison at the moment.

Kat1170

Faith wrote: »

I was thinking venison stew too, but I'm not sure I could be bothered to source venison .

Venison available in Lidl at the moment.

Animord

MissFlitworth wrote: »

I am indeedy, but I do make a point of eating and drinking my way around Cork once a year



Oof that sounds amazing, please do even if all it does is makes me furious with jealousy!

So I got the mushrooms, Lion's Mane and was told to do something that involved an awful lot of butter and maple syrup. The result is best forgotten to be honest. Anyway, I will try again next week and cook them with a bit of garlic and butter and see if they really do taste of lobster, which was hard to tell under the caramelised maple syrup.:(

Loire

the beer revolu wrote: »

O' Sullivan's Poultry in The English market has plenty of venison at the moment.

Hi Beer,

What cut would you buy and how would you cook your venison for a first timer?

Thanks,
Loire.

The Sweeper

B0jangles wrote: »

But who knows if you'd turn up your nose at the pope's nose?

:pac:

Wow. That was the parson's nose in our house. Food-n-religion politics ftw ;-p

the beer revolu

Loire wrote: »

Hi Beer,

What cut would you buy and how would you cook your venison for a first timer?

Thanks,
Loire.

Get venison pieces and do a casserole.
Bacon, red wine and herbs should be in there somewhere.

MissFlitworth

Faith wrote: »

I was thinking of doing a roast chicken with all the trimmings, but is that too boring for a birthday meal?

It sounds a bit perfect really People love the stuff they love

IvyTheTerrible

Animord wrote: »

So I got the mushrooms, Lion's Mane and was told to do something that involved an awful lot of butter and maple syrup. The result is best forgotten to be honest. Anyway, I will try again next week and cook them with a bit of garlic and butter and see if they really do taste of lobster, which was hard to tell under the caramelised maple syrup.:(

Myself and the OH do quite a bit of mushroom hunting and really, a bit of butter, garlic and maybe some parsley is the best way to cook wild mushrooms to get all the taste!

(I've never eaten Lion's mane mushrooms though, looks intriguing!)

Animord

IvyTheTerrible wrote: »

Myself and the OH do quite a bit of mushroom hunting and really, a bit of butter, garlic and maybe some parsley is the best way to cook wild mushrooms to get all the taste!

(I've never eaten Lion's mane mushrooms though, looks intriguing!)

It looks like cauliflower, but is so soft and squishy you could use it as a pillow.

I kind of agree with you re the cooking, my fav thing is a bunch of different mushrooms, fried in a little butter and the whole lot poured over a sliced of sourdough toast. I will definitely get them next week again and just do garlic and butter. You really can't go wrong with those ingredients!

Loire

.

MissFlitworth

Animord wrote: »

So I got the mushrooms, Lion's Mane and was told to do something that involved an awful lot of butter and maple syrup. The result is best forgotten to be honest. Anyway, I will try again next week and cook them with a bit of garlic and butter and see if they really do taste of lobster, which was hard to tell under the caramelised maple syrup.:(

Oy - yeah, I like caramel-y sauces on things but couldn't imagine mushrooms swamped in a puddle of the stuff.

Johnny_Fontane

oh yeah, tried that new cheese cake place on south william st.

3.95 for a takeaway slice or €4.50 in a jar (deconstructed). Its decent cheese cake, quite dense (as the slice I had was baked), and very heavy.

I've had better, but well worth a go (I say the same things to my wife :P)

Loire

Johnny, careful saying things like that to your wife when there's a cheese cake around!

gg2

Hi guys just wondering if anyone could recommend what cut of beef to use for a beef curry... Don't want a very expensive cut. I've never actually made beef curry before so all tips are greatly appreciated.

the beer revolu

gg2 wrote: »

Hi guys just wondering if anyone could recommend what cut of beef to use for a beef curry... Don't want a very expensive cut. I've never actually made beef curry before so all tips are greatly appreciated.

For me it would be shin and long slow cooking.
Please don't use round steak.

gg2

the beer revolu wrote: »

For me it would be shin and long slow cooking.
Please don't use round steak.

Should have mentioned this, I'm cooking for friends on friday night down the country and will literally be arriving and getting staight into it, will only really have about an hour to get the whole thing together!

dipdip

If you are not planning long slow cooking then you will need an expensive cut of meat: sirloin strips fried quickly and added to your curry sauce will work, but it won't be a patch on slowly cooked shin.

If you only have an hour I'd recommend using chicken or fish instead of beef, which require quick cooking.

When I cook a beef curry I give it at least 3 hours to become tender.

gg2

dipdip wrote: »

If you are not planning long slow cooking then you will need an expensive cut of meat: sirloin strips fried quickly and added to your curry sauce will work, but it won't be a patch on slowly cooked shin.

If you only have an hour I'd recommend using chicken or fish instead of beef, which require quick cooking.

When I cook a beef curry I give it at least 3 hours to become tender.

One of my friends has an aversion to chicken and I wouldn't be a fish lover myself... Was trying to avoid the likes of sirloin steak due to cost.... Back to the drawing board perhaps!

the beer revolu

gg2 wrote: »

Should have mentioned this, I'm cooking for friends on friday night down the country and will literally be arriving and getting staight into it, will only really have about an hour to get the whole thing together!

Make it tomorrow and bring the finished pot with you. Tastes better the next day anyway.